Renting in Ruby: a two-bedroom costs about $2,070
Ruby is too small for a cost of living grade (TownRatings grades places of 1,000 or more).
Zillow and Redfin publish no market figures here. How TownRatings grades cost of living
What kind of housing town is Ruby?
Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.
Why Ruby isn’t graded
The grade needs at least two of four Census figures: home value, rent, property tax and the share of households paying 30% or more for housing.
Next door, Ulster grades C− for cost of living.
A two-bedroom rents for about $2,070
Renters already here pay a median of $1,352, so moving in tends to cost more than staying put.
Fair Market Rent a month, utilities included
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fair Market Rents by ZIP code (Kingston, NY MSA): the 40th-percentile rent plus utilities for a standard unit. Median rent and renters: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey.
Low tax bills, but a high tax rate
The median bill is $6,047, under the New York median of $6,582, because homes cost less. As a share of value it’s 1.74% a year, against 1.55% statewide.
Census American Community Survey 2020–24: the median real-estate tax bill homeowners report, and that bill ÷ the median home value. Bills include town, school and county taxes. The Census reports bills over $10,000 only as “$10,000+”.
The rest of a budget near Ruby
Only figures published free for the whole country, each labeled with the area it covers: New York, or New York. Groceries follow the goods price level; nobody publishes them town by town.
| Cost | Here | Compared with | Area | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electricity cents per kWh, homes | 29.9¢ | U.S. 18.3¢ | state | EIA, July 2026 |
Price levels: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities 2024 (metro area and state). Electricity: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, table 5.6.A.
Ruby vs. its neighbors
Zillow publishes no value for Ruby. Saugerties and Ulster and Kingston have no Zillow value, so they are in the table only.
Cost next door · one source per column
| Town | Cost | Typical home Zillow, latest | Median value Census 2020–24 | Tax rate bill ÷ value | 2-bed rent HUD 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ruby | – | — | $347K | 1.74% | $2,070 |
| Ulster | C− | — | $301K | 1.73% | $1,870 |
| Kingston | – | — | $274K | 1.60% | $1,870 |
| Saugerties | C− | — | $335K | 1.83% | $1,690 |
“—” under Cost: not graded (too little Census data, or under 1,000 residents). “—” under Zillow: Zillow publishes no value for that town, so it’s left blank rather than mixed with Census figures.
Questions about the cost of living in Ruby
How much is rent in Ruby?
HUD puts a two-bedroom at about $2,070 a month with utilities, the going rate for someone moving in. Renters already here pay a median of $1,352 (Census 2020–24).
What are property taxes in Ruby?
The median bill is $6,047 a year, 1.74% of the median home value (New York: $6,582, 1.55%), from the Census 2020–24.
Why doesn’t Ruby have a cost of living grade?
Ruby is too small for a cost of living grade (TownRatings grades places of 1,000 or more).
Neighbors talk housing
What Ruby buyers, sellers and renters are saying.
Home values: Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), Zillow Research. Sales, days on market and supply: Redfin Data Center. Income, ownership, taxes and rent: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey. Fair Market Rents: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The calculator is an estimate, not a loan offer. Regional price levels: BEA; electricity: EIA. How TownRatings grades cost of living.